CONFIRMED: DRB-HICOM and Chevrolet part ways

After long standing rumours, DRB-HICOM has finally announced its break up with the Chevrolet marque in Malaysia. The statement said that DRB and General Motors Asia Pacific have mutually agreed to discontinue their existing joint venture agreement to import and distribute Chevrolet vehicles from Jan 1, 2010.

This will see the winding down of joint venture company HICOM-Chevrolet Sdn Bhd, which was founded in August 2007. GM and DRB-HICOM hold 51 per cent and 49 per cent stake in the JV, respectively. DRB-HICOM, through its subsidiary DRB-HICOM Auto Solutions, was reponsible for the importation of the vehicles into Malaysia while GM was in charge of the management and operations of the business.

The identity of GM’s new partner is almost an open secret by now, and we expect a formal announcement by the parties involved soon. This constant changing of hands doesn’t bode well for the Chevrolet marque in Malaysia; customer confidence will take a battering and current owners won’t be too happy with this news at all.

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

It's because GM wants DRB-HICOM to invest on CKDed Chevrolet. But the volume does not make it fesible for DRB-HICOM. Moreover NAZA is said to come behind the shadow. maybe a CKDed Chevrolet from GM. Moreover, the muslims in Malaysia didn't like the Chevrolet cross emblem on chevrolet. GM should be more sensitive on this.

Good news for Naza Kia. A least the Forte's real competitor, the Cruze would not be launched so soon. Tested it in Singapore, it was a darn good car the Cruze, refinemenet on par with Forte with a more upmarket feel.

CHEVY IS UGLY CAR. NO OFFENSE BUT IT IS. I RATHER DRIVE PERSONA OR NEO INSTEAD OF CHEVY. I WOULD RATHER DRIVE KEMBARATALKING ABOUT KEMBARA WHAT HAPPENED TO NAUTICA. I CAN SEE FERRARI BUT NOT NAUTICA ON ROAD, HELL IVE EVEN SEEN CARRERA GT BUT NAUTICA UHG UHG.

What is wrong with the Chevy bowtie (it is not even a cross you idiot) emblem? If Proton can put a crescent moon on its emblem, what's wrong with a bowtie. Hence, based on your narrow fanatical views, the crescent moon must be sensitive to Christians or non-muslims too. Please get a life!

The cross emblem logo from Chevy is symbol of Chevy bowtie. It should be well understand by other, that is nothing related to religion at all. If want to compare Nissan will be another victim, because it sound like driving Batu Nisan…

Zaman dah berubah, fikiran juga harus berdemikian…

I had own one Chevy at home…I will be headache get the spare, support and etc.

Azrai, I agree. Even though in Chevrolet's website it states that the "cross" is actually a "bowtie", but the fact remains that the symbol still look like a cross. This makes many malays/muslims in this country not keen on buying Chevy's cars. If only GM is will to tweak or change the logo a bit for the local market. Why not? No harm what…The small change will probably make a noticible difference in sales volume. Maybe the new JV setup can look into this (although I doubt it).

I drive a Chevy Aveo and hoping to buy the Cruze very soon. Its so hilarious reading about the the Chevy's emblem issue. Yah, I think the readers who feel the "bow-tie" emblem/logo is sensitive to the Muslims should leave in another planet! …kelakar betul!!!!! Chevy has been around in Saudi, Kuwait, UAE, Egypt etc…so maybe these guys should try to leave their kampung once and see the bigger picture…

If you don't like it the logo, then don't buy their cars. Might as well boycott Japanese products too, since it was only about 65yrs ago that they invaded and proceeded to rape the country with reckless abandon. But I guess splitting hairs about abstract shapes that vaguely resemble other shapes is infinitely more important to the majority of the country.

What is wrong with the Chevy bowtie (it is not even a cross you idiot) emblem? If Proton can put a crescent moon on its emblem, what’s wrong with a bowtie. Hence, based on your narrow fanatical views, the crescent moon must be sensitive to Christians or non-muslims too. Please get a life!

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You think some makcik from Kota Bharu knows the difference between the Chevy bowtie and a cross, particularly since the Chevy logo looks nothing like a bowtie? I mean, just look at the Red Cross, they changed their logos in Muslim countries to become the Red Crescent. You have to be sensitive to the sensitivities of the people in a country when doing business, or else be prepared to take a hit.

To my Muslim friends, don't take it the wrong way, is the only reason that u do not want to buy the car is because of the so-called "cross symbol", does this mean that if you are in Europe / USA and you meet with an accident, you do not want to seek treatment fom the "Red Cross".

Guys, ask your fellow Malay muslims friend (if you don't have any how come you can be 1 Malaysian?) :-) It is the feedback from my fellow friend who says it that way. I can accept it as a bowtie but sometimes they should be more sensitive on this thing because not all people are open mind. See McDonald discard their beef burger at India? Even the "Chevy' in Malaysia are Daewoos actually. GM just rebadged their Korean subsidiary product to become Chevy in Malaysia.

wat shallow thinking Malaysians….enough of your perceived racism toward minorities in the country, u now want to bring religion into a simple thing like buying a car.. grow up azrai and all the ppl who are talking about the cross…

the reason the Chevy brand is going out is because 1 most ppl still have the perception that the car is made in Korea and thus is of low quality ( need i remind you of the horrendous Daewoo Build Quality). The 2nd reason being us Malaysians who worship Toyota's,Nissan's and Honda's… and there's the cheaper Proton alternative as well…

It is only in Malaysia, all thanks to the conditioning by the government, that we have people making an issue out of a silly logo. It is the same with halal certification and many other silly issues that are non-issues in other Muslim countries.

In the Middle East, restaurants serve pork but they label it clearly. The residents there have no issue with it.

I don't blame the Malaysians but only the government. We have everything to lose if we continue down this sorry path.

u cant expect to change ppl's mind straight away. since most of u guys here not a chevy sales exec..why u care abt muslims who thinks that it's a cross. i'm a muslim, but i dont really look at it as a cross..but i do respect others opinion that it looks like a cross…so i wont buy chevy car also.

Owh come on people!! its just a logo!! Take it as that. No need to go beyond that… Yes, we muslims are not allowed to wear or have the cross symbol, if and only if, its clear (absolutely clear) that its a christian cross, for their religious purposes… if not, its not an issue…. If all crosses tak boleh, you'd not be doing additions in math (+)!!

Emblem is not the cause of low sales for Chevy in Malaysia, it is the marketing strategy and tactic. Religious sensitivity issue can be overcome by appropriate marketing communication and marketing positioning.

the comment so far really reflect the state of our society. 2 millenium of evolution and we end up here…!!!

about Chevy in MY, when is the GM gonna learn to run a business? all this changing don't create confidence among the consumer. There is no denying that Chevy reputation is pretty battered here with the neglect and constant change. Even if the best product in the world will find it hard to roll off the showroom with all this negatives.

What a nonsense and ridiculous comments from Malay Muslim here…I'm as a Muslim feel ashamed on how fellow Muslims acted like idiot here. Grow up people. It's no wonder why we Sabahan here in Sabah (and I believe Sarawakian too) can integrate with our fellow Christians and others way more better compare to western Malaysian… Shame on you all. Peace to the world.

I used to want to buy Optra previously. but decided not to after heard news that chev's logo is similar to one of the major religion's logo.

upon further investigation, I found out that it's true that chev's logo is strikingly similar. Not at this particular era but the religion's logo was used during byzantine era, through time the religion's logo has evolved into the current logo.

hm… i one the 'lucky' person that used to work with Chevrolet. Just something to share. When chevy brand introduced to malaysia back in 2003, it sold almost 12000+ cars within 1.5 years… there is almot 60-65% of the owner is Muslim… so does the logo really matters? i dunno…

Owh come on, not being racist but over a cross? Do you even know it's actually a bow tie? And do you know why the Chverolet Brother's chose a bow tie? Get a life and stop nit-picking on paranoid fantasy's

Symbols are important for Moslem consumers and I do agree it plays a part in their overall decision making, however, it is not the only factor. Due to highly inflated car prices in Malaysia, second hand prices do play an important part. I know someone who swears never to buy a Citroen again due to poor resale value, expensive spare parts, and problematic electronics. And mind you the car is 5 years old and with barely 100K km mileage!!

if chevy is to sell the cruze for RM40k and announce spareparts as cheap and abundant as proton, do u think people would shy away from it? muslims included. i don't think so. hate the logo? remove it then. just like how people who drive proton wira like to replace the logo with mitsubishi. what's so hard about that?

just like some comments earlier, go to middle eastern countries and u'll see chevy is 1 of their main car brands. does the logo hinder people there from buying it? not really. if we say that the Chevy logo resembles the cross, why not stay away from writing the letter "t" as well…it too looks like a cross…

anyway back to chevy and drb hicom. it's sad to see them part ways. they came on the scene with huge expectation and managed to see quite a number of cars back then (during the Hicomobil time). but everything went downhill after wards. i don't know, perhaps DRB Hicom just doesn't see Chevy's as an important enough business (or profitable for that matter) to keep. they do have tons of other brands in their line up not to mention manufacturing business.

anyway i hope whoever gets the chevy business next would keep it for a longer period. naza might sound bad in many people's ear but they've been doing Kia since like forever despite the bad impression people associate korean cars with and now kia's gaining momentum here. but then again, it's all speculation now n hopefully we can see something concrete in the next few months. i really like the captiva and many other GM vehicles (especially the Pontiac's that was never sold here and would never be since GM's closing that division down). Perhaps they can bring in some of the Holden's with small engines and rebadge them as Chevy's and see how they sell here….

The DRB Hicom is indirectly linked to other large companies, like MMC; Tradewinds; Bank Muamalat; Senai Airport; Port of Tanjung Pelepas; IJM; Zelan and a few others, through a common shareholder. There are signs that the owner is a little stretched financially and management-wise to manage such a diverse portfolio of business. Better leave it to others who are more focused in the auto business.

Whats the big fuss about the logo or DRB Hicom anyways?…Ask any enlightened chevy owners and they will tell u that many moons ago we already ditch DRB-Hicom & Cergazam for outside service centers. We don't give a damn on how they run this brand in Malaysia bcoz all this buggers care about is profit.

Most chevy owners are happy with their rebranded Daewoo/Suzuki/Holden whatever it is called in the other parts of the world. If u bought it at the clearance sales then the car has already depreciated significantly and is considered value for money. Only in Malaysia that people have mentality that Toyota and Honda is the best brand. I do own both this makes and the built quality is lower than the optra itself. Also prior to this, I have owned the rubbish Gen.2 which i dispose after 8 mths since the car has so many problems that can happen.

The GM cars are without its own problems. The holden T18SED engine itself is an old tech from the GM parts bin. For todays standards, it is a fuel guzzler when compared to other engines in its class. There is also the costs of spares which is much higher than jap makes. However, most of members do purchase parts and service them at outside mechanics since it is a lot cheaper when purchase in bulk from Siamland. GM parts are abundant since a lot are manufactured in our neighbouring country

My conclusion is that if u haven't own a chevy b4, don't dis it yet…..sure there are lemons but it is also the same for other makes

Haha…. what clowns… Chevrolet Caprice (AKA Holden Commodore) ….. is selling pretty well in Middle East i.e. Dubai and Saudi Arabia….n they didnt have to replace the bowtie with another logo…so what the big deal man…

Hahaha…I can't help but laugh reading some of the comments here. If Person A does not want to buy a particular brand of car because of whatever reason (they dont like the name, or the colour, or the emblem, or the country of origin, the resale value, etc), let them be la. It's a personal choice. They are not effecting you at all. Yet I see many people here get so worked up, yelling people to "get a life", calling people "narrow minded" this and that la. For what?? I think these people need to respect other people's views, even if they dont agree with them. Especially when these views does not effect them at all. Actually, "narrow-minded" are also people who cannot accept other people's views. So who's the narrow minded now?

A business entity cannot force their customer to follow their views. If the company want to succeed, they are the one who should adapt to the market sentiment. In malaysia, I think the emblem itself may not be such a big issue if the car is fantastic. But when you have a car that is generally ugly, expensive spare parts, poor resale value, and ON TOP OF THAT, has this emblem issue, then I'm not surprise the sales for Chevy is low in Malaysia.

Anyway, people, relax. Don't get so worked up over this. If a person likes blue instead of green (for whatever reason), then leave them be.

omG, look at the creatures that You ve created! they are so creative that now the discussion is about the emblem! haha.

so back to the topic.

who the other party, naza? if naza plan to do ckd then good lor, more choice for people. then can get cheap chev. at the of the day, naza become the trully national 'car maker' since they make cars more 'affordable' to malaysian..haha.

Muslims understands the sensitivity of non-muslims in this country. Thats why proton changed their logo. Its just some non-muslims who just blatantly ignorant enough to the muslims. Just like in this chevy logo issue.

when i saw "60 Comments" and i thought peeps are so keen to discuss about the GM-HICOM issue. god knows that the discussion ended revolving around religion perspectives. what a shame. if u r so allergic to the logo, i suggest u just don inhale the air exhaled by ur opposite religion's Msians. this is one world, we live on this land, and we share the same country. why segregate and why being so conservative. Peace!